GOP Senator Ted Cruz slammed President Obama‘s gun control proposals on NBC’s Meet The Press Sunday and said he didn’t think it was constructive for the president to try to “exploit” the Newtown tragedy “within minutes” of it occurring. Cruz said the “gun control agenda” backed by Obama is “designed to appeal to partisans.”

Cruz explained why he didn’t believe any of the gun control measures outlined by Obama last week would work:

“Number one, it would have done zero to prevent the crime in Newtown. Number two, many of the provisions are contrary to the constitutional protection of the Second Amendment. But number three, they don’t work.”

According to Cruz, the original assault weapons ban was “one of the least successful bills that has ever been put in place.” He said the president’s agenda is “not designed to actually solve the problem of violent crime.”

“This is designed to assuage liberal partisans who want to push their agenda forward,” he added.